The Sydney International Boat Show has celebrated its 25th exhibition at Darling Harbour, reaching a joint milestone with the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre in its silver anniversary year.

Australia’s largest annual exhibition attracted tens of thousands of visitors from August 1 to 5, and this year paid tribute to the combined histories of the event and its venue.

The General Manager of the Boating Industry Association of NSW, Roy Privett, addressed an industry breakfast at the Centre, saying the show had developed over 25 years into one of the world’s leading boating exhibitions.

“This venue and its people have been true friends to our industry,” Mr Privett said. “They have embraced our show and our vision and have been instrumental in our success.

“As this venue has seen much success and fanfare, so too has the recreational boating industry through the Sydney International Boat Show.”

The Sydney International Boat Show has attracted almost 1.9 million visitors since it was first held at the Centre in 1989, soon after its 1988 opening.

“At various stages of the past 25 years we have regularly occupied all available exhibition space and pushed the boundaries to occupy the majority of Cockle Bay with our floating marina,” Mr Privett said.

Mr van Amerongen paid tribute to the Sydney International Boat Show as one of Australia’s most important and successful public exhibitions.

“There have been many inspirational, amazing and remarkable Boat Shows over the past 25 years,” Mr van Amerongen said. “But the pre-requisite for a great event is a great client, and it has been a joy to work with the Boating Industry Association of NSW over that quarter century.”

The Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre will close in December to allow for the creation of a new Sydney International Convention, Exhibition and Entertainment Precinct, scheduled to open in late 2016. Next year’s Sydney International Boat Show will be held at a temporary exhibition facility at Glebe Island, while continuing to utilise its floating marina at Cockle Bay.